Side wall seal for floating tank roofs



SIDE WALL SEAL FOR FLOATING TANK ROOFS Original Filed Dec. 21, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR JOHN H. W/GG/NS ATTORNEY SIDE WALL SEAL FOR FLOATING TANK ROOFS Original Filed Dec. 21, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIGZ.

INVENTOR JOHN H. W/GGINS M W Q HTTOHNE Y Patented Aug. 17, 1943 OFS John Wiggins, Chicago, Ill.

Original application December 21, 1938, Serial No. 247,031. Divided and this application January 2, 1941, Serial N0. 372,865

1 Claim. (01. 220-2'6) This application i a division of my application Serial No. 247,031, for Floating tank roof, filed December'21, 1938. a

This invention relates to side wall seals for floating tank roofs, and has for its main object to provide a relatively deep, circumferentially flexible side wall seal, that is inexpensive, light in weight and easy to fabricate at the place where it is to be used.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a top plan view of a floating tank roof equipped with a side Wall seal constructed in accordance with my present invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view of said side wall seal, on line 2-2 of Figure l; and

Figure 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view, taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1, showing the swinging hangers that are preferably used to support said seal.

My improved side wall seal consists of a circumferentially flexible structure of substantial height, commonly referred to as a shoe, that is adapted to be mounted on a floating tank roof in such a way that said structure will conform, or approximately conform, to the shape of the curved or circular-shaped tank side wall with which it co-acts. It may be composed of a plurality of arc-shaped or segmental-shaped shoe members whose ends are joined together by gastight, flexible connecting devices, as is more or less standard practice, or it may consist of a single annular shoe that extends practically continuously around the side wall of the tank. The said side wall seal may be mounted in any suitable way on th floating roof, but I prefer to mount said side wall seal in the manner described in my parent application previously referred to.

In the preferred form of my invention herein illustrated my improved side wall seal A is constructed in the form of a split ring or annular shoe that extends unbrokenly around the side wall I of the tank, and which is provided with a single gap that is closed or sealed by a verticallydisposed sealing device I00, as shown in Figure 1, that may be of any preferred type or kind, so long a it provides for the expansion and contraction of said shoe. The shoe A comprises a vertically-disposed web, and reinforcing members 3 and 4 at the top and bottom edges of said web that extend around the entire circumference of the shoe. In order that the shoe A will be relatively light in weight, strong enough to successfully perform its function and still be capable of flexing clreumferentlally :ufiicicntly to conform to the shape or curvature of the side wall I of the tank, I. prefer to construct aid shoe from a skeleton-like frame or girder composed of the reinforcing elements 8 and 4-, previously referred to, that act as stress members, and vertically-disposed bars or members 5 connected to said elements so as to take up the shear, the co-acting parts 3, 4 and 5 forming, in effect, a light weight beam of skeleton construction which carries a vertically-disposed web that acts on the side wall of the tank. The web of the shoe A can be formed from any suitable light-weight sheet material. I have found that No. 16 extra heavy galvanized steel is suitable material from which to form the web of the shoe, but various other types and kinds of sheet materials and fabrics may be used. If desired, rubbing strips or equivalent devices may be attached to the outer face of the web of the shoe, so as to protect the finish of the sheet material from which said web is constructed. In the event my improved side wall seal A is made up of a plurality of segments or arc-shaped members, instead of being composed of a single annularshaped split shoe, as herein illustrated, each of such segmental parts will preferably be composed of a vertically-disposed web combined with a skeleton-like beam or girder, as previously explained.

A side wall seal of the construction above described can be easily fabricated in the field, or at the point where the tank is erected; it is inexpensive to construct; it is relatively light in weight, but nevertheless is capable of holding its shape or form; and it has sufficient circumferential flexibility to insure its accurately conforming to the shape of the side wall I of the tank.

The side wall seal A, above described, is mounted on the floating roof 2, preferably by means of a plurality of hangers B that are arranged in spaced relationship around the peripheral portion of the roof 2. The hangers B are 'rockably mounted on the floating roof, and are so disposed that the upper ends or free ends of said hangers lean against the inner face of the side wall of the tank, the side wall seal or shoe A being suspended from said hangers. As shown in the drawings, each of the hangers B is provided at its lower end with a horizontally-disposed trunnion 6 that is supported in bearings ion the floating roof 2. At the upper end of the hanger is a bracket 8, from which is suspended a swinging rod 9 provided at its lower end with a hook 10 that is engaged by the reinforcing member or bar 3 at the top edge of the shoe A. The hanger B is provided at its end with a roller or equivalent anti-friction device II that engages the inner face of the side wall i of the tank, and a resilient means is associated with each of the hangers B, so as to normally hold it in a certain approximate position, but permit said hanger to move slightly inwardly and outwardly with relation to the tank side wall I, said resilient means being herein illustrated as a spring rod F mounted in a vertical position on th top side of the floating roof 2, and a connecting member l3 that joins the spring rod F to the hanger B. The rods 9, used to support the side wall seal A from the hangers B, are provided with adjusting nuts ID that can be manipulated so as to adjust the side wall seal vertically relatively to its supporting hangers, as described in my previously mentioned pending application for patent.

In the drawings, the reference character D designates horizontally-disposed presser bars which bear against the inner side of the shoe A, intermediate the top and bottom edges of said shoe, and force said shoe outwardly inv such a way as to produce a line contact between the tank side wall and the shoe throughout the entire circumference of the shoe. The presser bars D form no part of my present invention, and therefore, I have not illustrated or described the means used to support and actuate the same. Sufiice it to say that the presser bars D are carried by spring-actuated, rockable members 30 that are mounted on the floating tank r001 2 adjacent the peripheral edge of said roof.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A floating tank roof side wall shoe of the type consisting of a relatively tall or deep, verticallydisposed, tubular member arranged in parallel relationship with the side Wall of the tank, said shoe comprising an arc-shaped, circumferentially-flexible frame of skeleton construction, comprising horizontal bars located at the top and bottom edges of the shoe, and a web piece of relatively light weight, circumferentially-flexible sheet material permanently attached to said frame and disposed vertically in parallel relationship with the side wall of the tank.

JOHN H. WIGGINS. 

